I and Love and You
by Saoirse agus amach
Summary: When Peter is hospitalized while patrolling NYC as Spiderman he is treated by Dr. Quinn Augustin. Quinn is quickly brought in to help the webslinger's dads understand his new powers. Along the way she meets Bucky and the two quickly fall for each other, but can the former Winter Soldier help her escape her troubled past? Steve/Tony, Bucky/OC
1. Introduction

If you are reading my other two Captain America fics, Someday, Normal and/or Raze you might be a little peeved that I'm starting a new story without updating those. I'm at a standstill in those stories, but I AM working on them. This was a story I started to publish on another fanfic website, but the fandom for Avengers stuff was just so huge I felt like my work was getting looked over. This is a complete story so I'll be uploading rapidly. Please leave me reviews!

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Five minutes. That's all the more break Quinn Augustin was allowed the night everything changed for her. The hospital was always busy, but that night must have been a full moon because it was insanity piled on top of busy.

Quinn looked at her chart; Severe abdominal pain. Male of unknown age. Well that can't be right, how did the nurse not get any more information? She walked into the room and one of the stranger sights of her career. There was a man in a red and blue jumpsuit writhing in pain on the the bed.

"Nurse Alvedo, what the hell is going on?" Quinn addressed the normally extremely competent nurse holding a syringe over the patient.

"We can't get a needle through his skin and he refuses to take off the mask." Alvedo's heavily accented voice dripped with fury at the patient. Quinn was honestly a little impressed, normally nothing could shake the nurse who had worked at City Hospital for decades.

"Sir, what's your name?" Quinn addressed the patient.

"Spider-man." The patient choked out. Quinn rolled her eyes, she had seen a YouTube video of this guying swinging around Queens.

"Well Mr. Spider we can't help you if you don't help us and judging by the amount of pain you appear to be in you really need us. Get that mask off your head and roll up those sleeves or you might literally die." Quinn knew she sounded harsh, but sometimes the best bedside manner was to be blunt.

"You can't tell anyone." The patient sounded conflicted, but the threat of death seemed to be getting through to him. He used his left arm to gingerly pull off the mask.

"Aren't you Tony Stark's kid? I've seen your picture in the lifestyle pages." Alvedo addressed the young brown-haired kid.

"Please don't say anything, I'm - I'm in a lot of pain here, doc."

Quinn melted slightly at his voice and pained expression. The vigilante she had seen online was just a young teenager with two superheroes for dads. He was probably just trying to be like them.

"Give me that I.V. needle." She held her hand out and tried to find a vein. When she tried to insert the I.V. that contained some much needed pain medication, the needle bent without penetrating skin. "What the..." Quinn let herself trail off, she had never seen anything like this, although she had read about it.

"It's Peter, right?" She asked the kid and he nodded yes. "Well, Peter, I'm going to ask you a question and I need you to be honest. Remember, doctor patient confidentiality means it doesn't leave this room."

Quinn saw the muscles in the kid's jaw clench, but couldn't tell if it was from nerves or pain. She leaned in close, "Are you Enhanced?"

A look of pure terror spread across the teenager's face. He didn't need to answer, his face gave it away, but he responded all the same. "I - yes. I don't know how, I was on a field trip and-"

Quinn held her hand up to silence him. "It's ok, it doesn't matter. It looks like your body is being pretty defensive to my needle though."

"Am I - am I going to die?" Peter was on the brink of tears.

"No, I'm not going to let that happen." Quinn tried to think of a solution. "Maybe because you're stressed out your body is just in extreme defense mode. Try to relax."

"How am I supposed to relax?" Peter started to panic again and Quinn instinctively placed her hand gently on his forehead.

"Hey, are you a good judge of character?" Alvedo suddenly interjected.

"I, uh, guess so?" Peter looked at the nurse in confusion.

Alvedo smiled and pulled out her cell phone. "Here, go through my Tinder matches and tell me if there's actually a good guy in Queens."

Peter still looked confused but took the phone all the same. He started swiping and the nurse silently handed Quinn a new needle with a wink. When Quinn saw that Peter was totally engrossed in finding Maria Alvedo a date she poked the needle into his arm.

"Ouch!" Peter almost dropped the phone but Maria took it from him.

"Anyone good?" Maria asked.

"No, don't date any of those guys." Peter said incredulously as slowly realized what happened.

"Alright, Peter. Those pain meds are going to calm you down, we're going to get to the bottom of what's going on." Quinn was almost certain it was appendicitis, but would need to some imaging to be sure. She ordered contrast for him to drink. "Here's the deal, Peter." She explained, "You're a minor, which means we need to call your parents. You can do it, or I can."

"Out of the country." Peter mumbled through a Norco induced haze.

Maria searched through the light jacket he had discarded and tossed a cell phone to Quinn. The phone was locked, but had a feature for ICE contacts, thankfully. Quinn went to the nurse's station to call the number labeled 'Pops - Dad #1' from the hospital phone. She wasn't sure if 'Pops' meant Captain America or Iron Man, but the prospect of telling either one of them their kid was in the hospital was not one she looked forward to. The number went straight to voicemail, she knew from personal experience leaving a voicemail on a parent's phone was a bad idea. The next In Case of Emergency contact was 'Dad - Dad #2'. After three rings the famous voice of Tony Stark answered with a clipped greeting.

"Mr. Stark," Quinn took a deep breath, this was a hard call to make no matter how famous the parent was. "This is Doctor Quinn Augustin from City Hospital. I need to inform you that your son, Peter, was admitted an hour ago."

There was incomprehensible yelling on the other end of the line before a new voice took over. "This is Steve Rogers, did you just say Peter's in the hospital?"

Insanity piled on top of crazy piled on top of busy. That was how the night in question progressed after Quinn examined Peter. She found herself continually drawn to the webslinger's room on her rounds, his awkward humor acted as a balm against the barrage of patients and irritations around her.

The current irritant wasn't even hospital related. Quinn was on her break, just trying to get a little nap in in the on call room when her phone buzzed and _that_ name came across her screen. Of all the nights for her mom to call, it had to be the one where she had a superhero in training, three drug addicts, and a guy convinced he was going to turn into a werewolf any second. The temptation to let the phone go to voicemail was strong, but, on the other hand her mom would continue calling all night if she didn't pick up. The decision was made for her when her pager went off. Break over. It had been five minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

"Tony, I'm sure he's alright." Steve Rogers put what he hoped was a reassuring hand on his husband's shoulder. Truthfully, he was a wreck inside, but he put on a brave face for Tony. The doctor on the phone wouldn't tell him much, just that their son was admitted through the ER with severe pain and that he was currently being monitored. Tony had called Happy, the head of security at Stark tower right away to find out what happened. It seems that Peter - the genius kid he was - overrode the system and sneaked out right under security's nose.

They were on a mission with most of the Avenger's, minus Thor who was with the Guardians somewhere in space, and Vis and Wanda who were holed up in Scotland, when the call came in. Originally, Steve tried to convince the team to stay and help with cleanup, but when they heard Peter was in trouble no one would listen to him. The q-jet cut the normally thirteen hour flight in half, but that was still nearly seven hours his boy had been alone in the hospital. Steve was well acquainted with hospital visits in his teenage years, but he had at least always had Bucky, the fact that Peter was alone tore him in two.

Speaking of, the former assassin was just as on edge as the parents. Even though he would never admit it out loud, Peter was particularly important to Bucky. Ever since they had returned from the Soul World together two years prior, the two shared a unique bond. Steve never learned exactly what happened while they were trapped in that place, but T'Challa informed him that Bucky had taken the teenager under his wing almost like his own son. Steve and Tony were eternally grateful for that, losing Peter was the most soul crushing thing they ever endured, and they had had to endure literal lightyears away from each other. The Wakandan prince was one of maybe a handful that actually remembered the events of the Infinity War accurately, the ancient flower gave him unique sight. Even the rest of the Avengers could only piece together the events based on the stories of Stephen Strange and the small team that had managed to jump time and dimensions.

Almost like he could read his mind Tony spoke up in a clipped tone while gripping Steve's hand tightly. "I can't lose him again. I won't...survive that, babe."

Ever the realist, Natasha spoke up when she overheard them. "If it was anything too bad the doctor would have told you over the phone."

"We're coming up on the hospital now." Sam announced from his spot in the pilot's seat. "I called ahead to clear the rooftop for us but I'll need to move the jet as soon as possible in case a helicopter needs to land."

Happy met them inside the building, instantly rattling off apologies to Steve and Tony. Steve tried to tell him it was alright and not his fault, Tony told him he was fired, then Steve told him he would have Pepper talk Tony out of that decision.

"Mr. Stark, Mr. Rogers!" A latin accented voice drew their attention, as well as Natasha, Clint, Bruce, and Bucky's. "Your son is right through here." The nurse motioned them through a set of double doors and down a heavily populated hallway. Seeing the team march through the hallway as if they were on a mission attracted a fair share of attention, but the nurse's stern face kept anyone from intercepting them. "He's on a lot of pain medication right now, so he's going to be a little loopy. The doctor will come talk to you shortly, she's with another patient right now."

"The doctor will come talk to us now." Tony raised his voice just before the nurse could open the door.

"No, sir. Sorry, but Peter's not the only patient here tonight." Nurse Alvedo crossed her arms and glared. Only two other women had ever stood up to Tony like that; Natasha and Pepper. The rest of the team was impressed. "Doctor Augustin will be in when she finishes."

"Ma'am, can you tell us anything about Peter's condition?" Steve tried for a more delicate tactic.

Alvedo shook her head. "Sorry, only the doctor." She held the door open and gestured for them to enter.

Steve grasped Tony's hand for support when they entered the room and saw Peter hooked up to a monitor with a tube in his arm. They had both witnessed the worst and scariest humanity had to offer, but seeing their son laying helpless in a hospital bed was almost more than they could endure.

Peter opened his eyes and waved to the group. "Hi everyone!" He slurred out. His dads rushed to the bed.

"Pete, we've been so scared." Tony grabbed his son's hand.

"How're you feeling, kid?" Bucky came to the side Steve was and gave Peter a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"I feel...my tongue is heavy." Peter replied.

"He's high as a kite." Clint snickered from his spot at the end of the hospital bed, Natasha elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"What happened tonight, bud?" Steve asked softly while running his hand through Peter's hair, unsure if he was comforting himself or his son more.

Peter crinkled his eyebrows together. "I went out on patrol, had a stomachache, started home, then collapsed on the street, then was here."

"Patrol?" Bucky asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Peter's eyes went wide, like he was just realizing what he said. "I, uh, I have something I need to tell my dads."

Everyone in the room looked at him in confusion but before it could be cleared up the doctor knocked on the door to announce her presence.

"Knock knock." She said in a sing-song voice. "How's my favorite patient?" Quinn walked deeper in the room where she could see Peter. The fact that the Avengers were crowding the room was just slightly intimidating.

"You say that to everyone." Peter laughed at Quinn.

"Only to my favorites." Quinn turned to Tony. "I'm Doctor Augustin, I've been treating your son tonight. Gotta say, he's kind of everyone's favorite around here."

"He has that effect on people. What's going on with my kid, doc?" Tony crossed his arms and glared at the doctor but Quinn saw right through his bravado to the concerned parent underneath.

"It's definitely appendicitis. We have him on pain meds and antibiotics, but he is most likely going to need surgery to remove the appendix."

"Surgery?" Peter's scared voice squeaked up.

Quinn turned to him and tried to pull off her most 'reassuring doctor' look. "Here's what's going to happen. The surgeon will come in and talk to you, explain the whole surgery. We'll keep you under observation for a day or so, then you go home and your parents proceed to next level spoil you for you a couple of weeks."

Tony looked like he had more to say, but someone in the hall started screaming for Doctor Augustin. Quinn curiously poked her head out the door and was then violently grabbed. She felt cool metal press against her temple.

"Doctor Augustin." A menacing voice sounded in her ear, but she couldn't twist to see who it was.

"Please don't do this." Quinn was trained in crisis management and tried to stay calm, although it was more difficult when she was the crisis.

"You killed my wife and baby!" The man holding her screamed into her ear. "You probably don't even remember them!"

Quinn thought back. This must be Tim Reynolds. Last week his wife came to the hospital with eclampsia, it had progressed to the point that despite Quinn and a team of OBYN's best efforts both mom and baby had passed. Reynolds had been so distraught he had to be escorted out by security.

"I do, Mr. Reynolds. I do remember them and I am so sorry." Quinn continued to try and remain calm but heard her voice shaking.

The gun was pulled away from her head and Quinn saw someone tackle Reynolds. It was James Barnes, the assassin turned Avenger that everyone called the Winter Soldier. Barnes moved enough to drag Reynolds to his feet but somehow missed the small .22 caliber pistol hidden in his pocket. Quinn could barely react before she heard the loud pop of the gun and felt pain explode in her shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

_Bucky was trapped. Someone had tied down his arms, legs, and neck; the harder he struggled to get out, the tighter the bindings became. Somehow, he was back at a Hydra facility, oh God, they caught him somehow. Bile started to rise in his throat when he realized the torture that would be coming. He saw someone move on his right, a woman. It was the doctor from the hospital. She was wearing a white sundress and a ribbon of blood was slowly winding its way down her shoulder. He screamed at her to run, but nothing came out of his mouth. The doctor started to beg for him to help her, but he couldn't move, couldn't even speak..._

"Fuck!" Bucky jolted awake and grabbed for the knife he always kept under his pillow. When it wasn't there, he reassessed his surroundings. He wasn't in his apartment, or Avengers tower, or the bedroom at Steve and Tony's he stayed in sometimes. He had fallen asleep on the couch. It was just a dream, he was in Steve's living room. There was a newspaper next to him, he must have fallen asleep reading the paper. While Shuri and the medical team in Wakanda had cleaned the programming out of his mind, there was nothing to be done about the nightmares. He thought about getting up and finding something nice and sugary to eat but heard shouting from the kitchen. Steve and Tony were going at it again.

* * *

"I can't believe you're actually entertaining this idea!" Steve didn't quite shout, but it was almost as close to shouting as Tony had heard in a few years.

"I can build him a better suit, hell, we can bring Shuri here and she'll build him a better suit." Tony put down his drink and tried to wrap his arms around Steve's waist but was pushed away. They had been home from the hospital for two weeks and, following the doctor's orders, Peter had been spoiled like crazy by his parents and the rest of the team. Even Bruce, who was normally unsure of himself around the teenager, dropped off a beta version of a new computer program for him to tinker with 'so he wouldn't get bored.'

One day after being home Peter called in Steve and Tony and confessed everything about being Spiderman to them. He explained how he wandered off during a field trip to Osborne labs and was bit by one of the spiders they had been experimenting on. Tony immediately wanted to call up the school and the lab, but they couldn't think of a way of doing so without blowing Peter's cover. Both parents nearly broke down when Peter told him why he kept it secret; "Ever since I snuck on that ship with Dad and couldn't do anything to help, all I've wanted is to be strong like you two. And now I have these powers - and, maybe I would love to finally get on the football team - but when you can do what I do and you don't do anything to help people, you're just as bad as the bad guys."

Those words had cemented it for Tony, he fully supported training Peter to be a member of the team. Steve, on the other hand, could only see the small boy he had left behind in one of the worst mistakes of his life. The argument they were having today felt like a broken record that just kept playing the same song over and over again.

"Tony, I left him once." Steve said softly, sinking into one of the dining room chairs and resting his head in his palm. "I left and we lost him, it doesn't matter if it was real or not, I missed two years of his life and then he was dead. What kind of father would I be if I let him do something that would get him killed?" Steve's face was turning red and his eyes started to glisten with tears. They rarely spoke about their fight that nearly split the team in half and lead to them almost killing each other. The wound of their civil war was too raw and neither acknowledged it after Steve and Tony agreed to forgive each other - and Tony promised to forgive Bucky - in order to work together to get their son back.

"Don't you trust me?" Tony put his hand between Steve's shoulder blades and started to rub in small circles. "I can protect him."

Steve shook his head and stood up. "It's just too reckless." He left the room intending to go beat on the punching bag of their home gym but stopped when he heard Bucky chuckling in the living room.

"So I take it you heard all that." Steve angrily looked at his best friend. "Don't tell me you find it funny I'm trying to protect my son."

"I'm not laughing at you." Bucky put down the paper he was reading and looked over at Steve. For about the millionth time, Steve was struck by how far he come since his time under Hydra control. He was definitely not Bucky from Brooklyn anymore, but he was also not the mindless killer either. This new James Barnes was the conglomeration of all his past lives; soldier, assassin, friend. Steve loved this version just as much as the original and Tony, well, even he was coming around.

"Then what are you laughing at?" Steve let out an exasperated sigh and leaned against the door frame, he could tell by the look on Bucky's face he had something important to say.

"I'm marveling at you." Bucky chuckled again and Steve raised an eyebrow at him, signaling him to explain more. "I'm marveling that the tables have finally turned and now Steve Fights-Guys-Twice-His-Size-In-Back-Alleys Rogers is worried about his reckless kid."

"This is a totally different situation, Buck. Peter wouldn't just be fighting-" Steve tried to defend his stance but Bucky continued on.

"Your ninety-five pound asthmatic ass also signed up to be experimented on AND threw yourself on a grenade in the middle of basic training!"

"Well yes, but-" Steve tried to interject but Bucky was on a tangent.

"THEN you marched into a Hydra facility with nothing more than a _showgirl stage prop_ shield and rescued me and the whole 107th! And after I fell, when I had been gone for maybe five minutes, you dive bombed a fucking plane into the ice! And you have the gall to call Peter reckless!" Bucky's voice got louder the more he went off. Truthfully, he could fill a book with stories of Steve's exploits both pre and post serum.

"You tell him, Winter Boo Bear!" Tony's voice sounded from the kitchen, earning a chilling glare from Bucky.

Steve took in a breath to respond but was interrupted again, this time by F.R.I.D.A.Y informing them their was a visitor at the front door. Still angry, Steve told the computer to let whoever it was up. The elevator to their door dinged and out stepped Dr. Augustin, her right arm in a sling and looking much more casual than she had been at the hospital with her reddish-blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and wearing jeans and a black tank top.

Quinn could sense the tension in the room, but took a hesitant step out of the elevator. "Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Stark asked me to come."

"Yes, doctor!" Tony walked into the living room and greeted Quinn. "Let's all take a seat. How's that shoulder doing?" Tony motioned for Bucky and Steve to stay in the living room and sat Quinn down on one of the accent chairs.

"I'm fine." Quinn responded to to Tony. "Thankfully, people in the middle of a psychotic breakdown have terrible aim. Nothing major was hit, and I'll be able to get back to work in a few weeks."

Quinn took a few seconds to take in her surroundings. She had grown up wealthy, so the size of the Gilded Age Stark-Rogers mansion was not too overwhelming, but the remodeling and technology was. The living room they sat in was a harmonious blend of the Vanderbuilt the home was originally built for in the 1800s and the technophile currently inhabiting it. A giant television screen was surrounded by a gold scroll frame. They sat on brand new Swedish style furniture, but their feet rested on an intricate Oriental rug. One of the walls was filled from floor to ceiling with books and another boasted a large portrait of Tony, Steve, and Peter when the boy was only about eight years old.

"I brought these." Quinn pulled a medical file out of her bag. "It's Peter's x-rays and bloodwork, didn't seem like the kind of thing you wanted the hospital to have hold of." Quinn handed the file to Steve.

"Because he's Enhanced, right?" Steve asked as he sat down next to Tony on the couch and briefly looked through the file.

"Well, yes. It's..."Quinn worried at her bottom lip, unsure of how much she knew on the subject she could share with them. "A growing number of the medical community wants more to be done about Enhanced people. Peter's such a great kid, I would just hate for him to get caught up in it. Now, if anyone asks, City Hospital just misplaced his records."

"By the 'medical community' you mean, your father of course." Tony looked at her smugly. "William Augustin of Augustin Medical, the leader in human experimentation."

"So you know how to use google." Quinn bristled at Tony. She had been working for years to distance herself from William.

"I'm betting the old man would be thrilled to hear about Pete." Tony continued with that same smug tone to his voice.

"Yes he would." Quinn said matter of factly, now officially annoyed. "Just as much as he would like samples of their blood," Quinn pointed at Steve and Bucky. "Or Bruce Banner's or the Scarlet Witch's or just about anyone else on your team. But if you were really worried I'm some kind of corporate spy for my dad you wouldn't have made me meet you in your private home."

"You're right." Tony continued, now Steve was glaring at him as well. "You wouldn't be here unless I knew that you turned down four different job offers from your dad and his colleagues. You haven't even spoken to him in what, four years? Now what I don't know is if you quit before or after his lab was shut down for illegally experimenting on humans."

"Are you stalking me?"

"I like to call it, aggressive research."

"Tony," Steve said warningly. "What's this about?"

"Before." Quinn sat up straighter. No one, including Tony Stark, was allowed to use her past as a weapon against her. "I thought I was helping develop a cure for certain types of cancers. I left with a gag order when I realized what was actually going on."

"I see." Tony steepled his fingers. "And what did you do to get the people out of there who receiving 'treatment?'"

Quinn looked down. "Nothing. I was barely able to get out of there alive, we can't all be superheroes."

"No we can't." Tony started to pace around the room. "And now you work at City because, what? You think you can get some kind of redemption by working at a public hospital? Or are you trying to hide your genius so the recruiters don't come calling?"

"Something like that." Quinn ground her teeth together. Of course everyone knew Stark was smart, but she had seriously underestimated him.

"And our son." Tony leaned over the back of the couch and put his hands on Steve's shoulders. "You're not going to do anything with the information you have on him?"

"Of course not!"

"What can you tell us about his condition?" This time it was Steve who spoke. "What sort of abilities are we looking at here?"

Quinn looked around the room. All three men were staring at her with hard looks. Steve and Tony both wore the familiar look of parents wanting to know everything about their son's condition. But James Barnes, he looked like he was solving a puzzle. She wanted to kick herself for it, but Quinn couldn't help lingering her eyes on him for a few seconds longer than the others.

"I would have to do more tests to be sure but I can tell you what I do know. When I tried to stick Peter with a needle, the needle bent before puncturing his skin."

"So we never have to worry about tattoos." Tony joked but was silenced by a look from his husband.

"I was able to get it in after he calmed down. I think it was a defense mechanism." Quinn fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "That's all I know for sure."

"Do you want to know more?" Tony asked. Steve and Quinn both said "What?" at the same time.

Tony addressed Steve first. "I think we should have her run tests to see what he can and can't do. Then we make some decisions about his extracurriculars. And you," Tony pointed to Quinn. "He likes you, and you are just enough of a genius that I trust you."

"Why not have Banner do it?" Bucky's gravelly voice sounded from the corner.

"Bruce just left for Wakanda." Steve answered for Tony. "He might not be back for a while."

"So it's settled." Tony clapped his hands together. "Quinn, I can call you Quinn, right? Welcome to the team."

Tony started to walk Quinn to the elevator door and told her that she started on Monday. Once she was gone he turned back to Steve and Bucky.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bucky asked darkly. "We don't know anything about her."

"You need to learn to trust people sometimes." Tony started to walk down the hall to Peter's room. "Besides, hiring her was all Pete's idea, and he's a great judge of character."

Quinn stepped out of the mansion and onto the busy streets of Manhattan. She couldn't believe what had just transpired, and still wasn't sure how she got roped into agreeing to it. Tony Stark, she decided, had earned his money by just talking his way out of an in to things. Getting to know Peter's condition would be fascinating, sure, but it felt dangerously close to the very thing she had been avoiding for years now. Her shoulder ached, while a .22 was small, it still packed a punch on the average human. The pain in her shoulder coupled with the unease of the day started to make her feel utterly exhausted. She texted her roommate and arranged a nice night in filled with junk food and cheesy movies. If she was supposed to start on Monday she had the whole weekend to just be lazy and not worry about hospitals, or Enhanceds, or bullets, or a blue eyed former assassin whose face would just not get out of her head.


	4. Chapter 4

So I definitely forgot about this story. I apologize and really hope some are still interested. Please leave me a review! I should also note that I started writing this before Endgame came out, so it is definitely, extremely AU.

* * *

Steve found his family in the basement of their home, exactly where he figured they would be. Tony was showing Peter some engine he was working on for one of his many cars and the teen was soaking up every ounce of knowledge he could. Steve leaned against the wall and just watched without being noticed. Seeing the two of them together, in this home they worked so hard to make their own, he wondered yet again how he could have almost lost everything. He didn't regret going after Bucky for one second, and he still disagreed with the Accords as they existed in their original state, but the thought of never having this moment almost made him panic. Peter laughed at some joke Tony told, probably an inappropriate one. Tony was an amazing parent. When they first talked about adoption - roughly a year after moving in together, two years after Steve was unfrozen and seemingly a lifetime away from the first formation of the Avengers - Tony had flat out refused out of fear of turning out like Howard. Of course, when they met Peter at one of a million charity events Tony had become absolutely besotted. All it took was one day of spending time with the boy and both men knew that he completed their family. Steve decided to come out of hiding when he heard Tony utter the phrase, 'take it for a spin.'

"Peter, you're really supposed to still be resting." Steve came up behind Tony and wrapped his arms around the shorter man's waist while nuzzling his nose into the back of his neck. Peter rolled his eyes, but by now, was used to their very public displays of affection.

"I know Pops, Dad was just showing me some stuff. I was getting bored up in my room."

Steve nodded and disentangled himself from Tony. "I know what that's like. One time I got pneumonia and had to spend almost three months on bed rest. Your Uncle Bucky even tried sneaking me out, but my mom caught us."

"And I'm supposedly the bad example." Tony let out a melodramatic sigh.

"Did you talk to him yet?" Steve asked Tony who shook his head.

"Talk to who about what?" Peter asked excitedly. He knew it wasn't Avengers business, the garage/workshop had a strict 'no work talk' policy.

"Pete, your Pops and I have been talking about the Spiderboy thing."

"SpiderMAN" Peter corrected.

"Ya, that." Tony tapped his fingers nervously at the desk. "You know," He addressed Steve. "Now that we're actually saying it out loud this whole thing scares the hell out of me."

Steve put one arm around Tony's shoulder. "We decided to train you."

Peter's reaction was instant. His face lit up in one of the largest smiles they had ever seen and he tried jumping in the air but quickly aborted the mission when he felt his incision pull.

"There're conditions." Tony said sternly, which made Peter sober up real fast, he was not normally the stern one.

"Yes, of course! I'll do whatever you want." Peter sat down in one of the barstool chairs to cradle his aching surgery site, but his enthusiasm remained.

"First of all," Tony held up a finger. "You're not an Avenger. You're not even B team."

"Second," Steve took up where Tony left off. "You're going to train harder than any of us, even Bucky. It's not going to be easy, you'll have lessons with Nat, Clint, Bucky, and the two of us on top of your normal school work."

"You're also going to get a full physical done by Doctor Augustin." Tony finished.

"And no more sneaking around." Steve finished what he had to say as well. Both parents looked expectantly at their son.

"So I can't go on missions?" Peter asked dejectedly.

"Maybe, and I do mean _maybe_ when you're older." Steve put a hand on Peter's shoulder and pulled him into a tight hug.

* * *

Quinn changed into a baggy pair of sweatpants as soon as she entered her apartment. Within minutes pizza was ordered and 'Pride and Prejudice' was queued up on the t.v., she just had to wait for her roommate to get home. The front door opened, but it was just her neighbor, Royal.

"Hey Roy!" Quinn called from her spot on the couch.

Royal jumped over the back and swept his long mohawk out of his face. "Don't call me that, _Augie."_ He stuck his tongue out at her and Quinn laughed at their familiar banter. She never learned if Royal was a nickname or his real name, but in the years they had been neighbors he became just like a brother to her. His heavily tattooed, muscular body and Hollywood blonde hair and blue eyes meant that most women clamored over themselves to get at Royal, but he and Quinn had simply never thought of each other in any terms other than platonic, even if he did flirt with her occasionally.

"Chick flicks and pizza night?" Royal casually swung his arm over the back of the leather couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table.

"Yep. Andi and I both agreed to a night in." Quinn scowled at his boots on the glass of the table, but knew it was a losing fight to say anything.

"OR you could come to the bar. Have a little fun, listen to the band, meet a hot guitar player, take him home..."

"I think you're describing your night." Quinn playfully shoved him.

"Don't swing that way babe. But seriously, there's a kickass band playing and you should get out more."

The front door swung open again and Andi entered the apartment in a huff. "You know," She started in her almost accent all native New Yorkers seemed to have mastered. "I realize stripping isn't the most respectable of careers but every once in a while I would like it if people didn't look at me like dog shit on the bottom of their shoe when they find out it's what I do."

"Who do I need to kill?" Royal cracked his knuckles comically.

Andi shook her long brown curls. "No one in particular. I was on the train headed home and this guy strikes up a conversation with me. Number one; weird. But I went with it. Then he asked me what I did so I told him and it was like everyone around me was suddenly weirded by the fact that I said it. Plus, I got turned down by yet another dance company, the director said I 'wasn't their style.'"

Andi plopped down on the couch next to Royal and put her head on his shoulder.

"Sounds like you need a night out." Royal patted the back of her head and grinned mischievously.

"Or..." Quinn said emphatically. "A night in with pizza, Mister D'Arcy, and your injured roommate."

"I don't know, Q," Andi chewed her bottom lip dramatically. "Royal does make a good point. And isn't there a band at the bar tonight?"

"We have booze here." Quinn was starting to grasp straws.

"Does that matter?" Royal waved a hand dismissively. "Have you ever paid a dime for a drink in my bar?"

Quinn huffed, once again she could see she was fighting a losing battle against her two very strong willed best friends. "Fiiiine. Let me go change out of my extremely comfortable sweat pants and figure out a way to look remotely presentable in this sling. But you both owe me! Movie night tomorrow."

That was how thing went between the three of them. Quinn was the most introverted of the trio, so most nights the other two coerced her into socializing with the promise of a 'Quinn' night to follow. Within minutes Quinn was dressed in heels and a simple black skater dress. She looked in the mirror and frowned at the sling, it would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention and she dreaded telling the story of her injury over and over again. At least all of Royal's bartenders knew to make her gin and tonics heavy on the gin.

The bar, Royal Savage, could have passed as a biker bar in almost any other city, but had been overrun by hipsters and what Royal dubbed 'lumbersexuals.' Royal loved to complain about his patrons and their pretentious ways, but as soon as the trio entered he turned on the charm and almost every eye in the room focused in on him.

Once the band started playing and Quinn started drinking she had to admit it wasn't _too_ bad being out with Andi and Royal. Andi never stayed away from the dance floor long and was a blast to watch. Her years of training showed through even when she was just having fun. The band was pretty good, kind a Breaking Benjamin type vibe. Royal was surrounded by his usual crowd of girls wearing barely there dresses and holding his ever present Jack and Coke - that was really just Coke because, ironically, he never drank but felt like he needed to keep up appearances. Quinn felt the familiar callous of his hand on the back of her neck while she was chatting with one of the bartenders.

"I know you're not just going to sit here all night." Royal growled into her ear. "Come dance with me."

"I've already been shot once this month." Quinn turned and tilted his chin towards one of the girls that had been exceptionally clingy all night. "I better not piss off your fangirls."

"C'mon Augie." Royal tugged at her good arm and started to pull her towards the dance floor. "I'm going to go fucking insane if I have to spend more time with those Brooklyn Babies." Royal referred to the Lana Del Rey song he frequently compared the type of women who hung out in his bar to.

They started to dance. Well, Royal started to dance and Quinn somewhat followed along. The band was playing a cover of 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy' and Royal put his hands around Quinn's waist, pulled her close, and started a rapid, grinding version of a two-step. They probably looked ridiculous, but Quinn still laughed at the way he would flop his mohawk all over the place and sing loudly along to the chorus. Her belly was aching and her shoulder was sore by the time the song ended. She excused herself to get some fresh air and with a promise that she wasn't going to sneak home and 'read a book or some lame ass thing like that'.

As much as she hated the practice of smoking after seeing its effects firsthand in her patients, the smell of cigarettes and booze coupled with the noise of the city was one of Quinn's favorites things about going out. Something about standing outside a crowded bar alone but surrounded by people made her feel free. It was a reminder that she was no longer under her parents rule, as much as they both tried to keep her there. She found a window ledge on the corner of the building where no one else was at and sat down to enjoy a moment of peace.

"You really shouldn't go off on your own." A deep male voice pulled her out of her revery. She looked up and saw a pair of familiar blue eyes.

"It's James, right?" She asked. "James Barnes?"

"My name is Bucky." The large man sat down next to her on the window sill and pulled out a cigarette and lighter. "You mind?"

Quinn shook her head no. "What are you doing all the way in Queens?"

"I like the band that's playing." Bucky took a long drag and looked over at her quizzically. "This doesn't really seem like your kind of joint, doc."

There was just the smallest hint of Brooklyn in his voice and Quinn decided she really like the sound of it.

"Normally wouldn't be. But one of my friends owns it." Quinn looked through the window and saw Royal pass a shot over to Andi. So apparently it was going to be one of _those_ nights.

"You mean your boyfriend who had his hands all over you?"

Quinn snapped her head to Bucky, disbelieving what she had heard. "Royal is just a friend, he's like a brother to me."

Bucky took another long pull from his cigarette until just the cherry remained. He flicked it into the street and stood up, pulling the hood of his jacket up. "You may think that, but where I'm from you don't dance with your sisters like that."

"Well maybe you should head back there." Quinn stood up and looked at him defiantly.

"Sometimes I wish I could. I guess I'll be seeing you around on Monday, doc." Bucky turned and started walking away from the bar.

Quinn glared at his retreating form, furious that she had let him push her buttons like that.

"Hey!" She yelled after him and he turned just slightly so she could see the side of his face. "I never thanked you for saving my life. So, thanks, I guess." She saw a small smirk then he turned and continued walking without so much as a 'you're welcome.'

Quinn considered running to catch up with him but her phone rang and a familiar number flashed across the screen. That number was like a bucket of ice water in her gut. She swiped her phone to answer with shaky fingers.

"Hello, Father." She tried to sound casual, but knew he would see right through the facade.

"You need to start picking up the phone when your mother calls." William Augustin didn't bother greeting his daughter. "I had to keep her from flying out to New York yesterday because you can't be bothered to pick up your phone."

"Sorry, I've just been busy. I'll call her tomorrow." Quinn deadpanned, hoping that was the only reason for the call, but she doubted it.

"You have been busy. What did Stark offer you?"

Quinn's breath hitched. She didn't bother asking how he knew about her meeting at the Stark house, it was obvious he had someone following her...again. "I helped his son at the hospital a while back, he just wants me to make house calls."

"I don't need to remind you of what will happen if you violate your gag order." William's voice didn't have any emotion behind it, as if he were simply commenting on the warmer than usual weather they were having.

"No, Dad." Quinn absently ghosted her finger above the scars on her right side. "You don't."

* * *

Bucky deftly made his way through the city sidewalks heading nowhere in particular and cursing Peter Stark-Rogers the whole time. The damn kid hadn't shut up about the doctor and the result was her face getting stuck in Bucky's head. Every time he fell asleep he had the same nightmare, not being able to get to her. He had intended to drown her out in alcohol and good music tonight but of course that new band he liked just had to be playing at a bar she was at. It took every ounce of his self-control to keep from ripping that blond guy's arms from his sockets when he saw him all over Quinn. The jealousy came as a shock to Bucky. That simply wasn't him. Even when he and Natasha had attempted a kind of relationship, he never felt jealous around her. He never felt like he needed to protect Natasha and he definitely never had nightmares involving her. He decided the only reason the doctor had her claws in him was because Peter kept talking about her.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to my guest reviewer, I really appreciate the feedback and am happy you have enjoyed the story. Keep those reviews, likes, and follows coming everyone!

* * *

"That is so cool." Quinn looked once more at Peter's incision. The surgery site had healed exponentially in a very short amount of time.

"Is it normal for it to be closed like that so quickly?" The teenager asked.

"Nope." Quinn tenderly touched around the incision, looking for any sign of redness. She took out the stitches that morning when it was obvious the site was nearly closed. "How are you feeling? Have you had any pain?"

Peter shook his head.

Quinn made a note on her clipboard. "So, we can definitely add accelerated healing to the list." The 'list' already read 20/20 vision, accelerated strength, heightened hearing, and accelerated metabolism.

"That doesn't mean you can't still get hurt, Pete." Steve cautioned his son from where he stood on the other side of the hospital bed. They were in the medical wing of the Avengers Tower. Quinn had nearly fainted from excitement when she went in that morning and saw all of the state of the art technology. Her fingers itched to get a hold of the Wakandan technology, especially the table that appeared to allow a surgeon to use nanobots of some kind to perform surgery.

"Is there anything else different about you?" Quinn asked. "Remember, even the most seemingly insignificant thing could be huge."

Peter frowned. "I guess there's one thing." He chewed on his inner cheek like he wasn't sure what to say. "Sometimes, I feel things before they happen."

"What do you mean 'feel' things?" Quinn asked softly and sat down on the swivel stool so she was face to face with Peter.

"Like, I can just somehow feel when something bad is about to happen, or if I'm in danger."

"Is it physical?" Quinn started taking notes. "Does your chest feel tight or your stomach hurt when it happens?"

"No." Peter looked to his dad for support. "It's like if you were watching a car stuck on a train track and a train was about to hit it. You know that something bad is going to happen, you kind of dread seeing it but you can't do anything to stop it."

"Very interesting." Quinn chewed on the end of her pen and copied down what Peter said.

"I call it 'spidey-sense'." Peter blushed a little at his confession.

Quinn smiled at the term then turned to Steve. "I wonder, was he really anxious as a child?"

Steve thought for moment. "He was really attached to Tony and I, the doctors said he had separation anxiety but that it was mainly from being moved from home to home. He calmed down after a year or so." Steve put his hand on Peter's back and smiled lovingly at his son before turning back to Quinn. "Why?"

Quinn shrugged. "Some people who have studied enhancements believe there are actually two types of enhancement. They think that some people are born with certain enhancements, we call that genetically enhanced. Then of course are the people like Doctor Banner and yourself who are enhanced artificially. Another study suggested that artificial enhancement actually just brings forward traits and even minor enhancements that were already present in the genes."

Steve nodded. "Dr. Erskine thought something similar."

"I just wonder if this 'spidey-sense' is the enhancement of a trait Peter already had. Maybe he was born with some form of precognition that is enhanced since his spider bite. It's really different from his other new abilities." Quinn shook her head. "Not that it matters, just curiosity on my part."

"All of my best inventions came out of just being curious." Tony walked into the exam room. "Are you all done here, doc?"

"Yep." Quinn handed Tony her notes. "Your boy is perfectly healthy."

"Great. Hey Pete," Tony playfully smacked Peter on his head with the file. "Go set the table while Pops and I talk to the doctor a minute."

Peter dutifully did as he was asked after returning the smack with a light punch to Tony's shoulder. Quinn heard Steve mutter something about 'my boys'.

"What's the prognoses?" Tony asked.

"I think that Peter has a very interesting life ahead of him." Quinn started to gather her materials and tidy up the room.

"You've seen the stuff he does on the internet." Steve crossed his arms and drew his eyebrows together. "He wants to be a superhero, think that's possible?"

Quinn stopped what she was doing and thought for a few minutes. This was one of those moments no amount of schooling could prepare her for. It didn't matter who they were, all parents wanted to know about their kids was 'are they alright?'

"Physically," Quinn started slowly. "Peter can do incredible things and barely suffer any consequences. But psychologically, well, he's still just a teenage boy and saving lives is a lot to put on someone that young. On the other hand, it's not like he'll be alone in figuring everything out."

Tony started to escort Quinn out after sharing a significant look with Steve. "Thanks for everything you've done. You've really made an impression on him."

They walked to the common dining area where Peter was just putting the last set of silverware down. Quinn noted that the plates, glasses, napkins, and silverware were so perfectly placed even her old etiquette teachers would be impressed.

"Hey Dr. Augustin, I set a place for you." Peter smiled and motioned towards a chair to the left of him.

"Oh, thanks. But I should really get going." Quinn tried to politely decline.

"C'mon, doc," Tony nudged Quinn's shoulder. "You're in the fold now and the fold eats together."

"That's really, very nice but," Quinn tried to find an excuse. Truthfully she just hated the idea of sitting in on a private family dinner, it felt too invasive. "I'm actually a vegetarian so-"

"Perfect!" Peter exclaimed. "So is Uncle Bucky and he'll be here any minute. We're having spaghetti and we made a pot of meatless sauce for him."

Quinn laughed at the image of the surly man she met at the bar ordering a black bean burger somewhere. "I guess I'm out of excuses."

They all sat at the meticulously made table and Steve started to pass around the pot of spaghetti and the garlic bread. Bucky showed up late and sat in the only chair left, right next to Quinn. Growing up, family dinner was a silent affair for Quinn. The only noise was the clacking of silverware against her mother's china plates and the occasional swing of the kitchen door as a maid went in or out to deliver food.

Dinner in the Stark-Rogers household - even if it was being held in Avengers HQ tonight - could not have been more opposite. Conversation flowed easily between fathers and son and Bucky. There was joking and very loud laughter. At one point Steve laughed so hard at one of Tony's jokes that he nearly toppled his chair backwards. Steve and Bucky consumed massive amounts of food and Tony insisted that the adults have a glass of a vintage red wine. Quinn saw Bucky help Peter sneak a small sip of the wine when his dads weren't looking.

"So Doctor Augustin, what's your family like?" Peter asked during a rare lull in conversation. Quinn was absolutely stuffed with a massive amount of carbs but Steve and Bucky each refilled their plates for the fourth or fifth time. She realized their enhanced metabolisms from the serum would require them to eat almost constantly.

"Well," Quinn looked around at three pairs of expectant eyes. "There's not much to say, Peter. I'm not close to my parents, I was basically raised by my mom's mom and a series of nannies until I was sent to boarding school."

"And where was that?" Steve asked.

"Saint Sebastians in Charleston, South Carolina. I was there all the way from sixth grade until I graduated." Quinn smiled when she remembered the warm sun of Charleston and the gothic architecture of the school she considered home.

"Ah, Saint Sebs!" Tony clapped his hands together. "I was kicked out of there in '84."

Before she knew it, Quinn was sucked into a conversation with Tony reminiscing about his brief tenure at Saint Sebs. It was refreshing to talk about the part of her past that she loved and to have someone to joke about the idiosyncrasies of the school ("Do they still allow girls in the boys dorm but no boys in the girls dorm? Do students still sneak out to the old railroad tracks?")

When they started to talk about the rugby team the whole conversation turned to sports. Steve was a big fan of boxing and baseball, although he couldn't quite get himself to be a Dodgers fan after they 'sold out' to California. Tony liked formula one racing, but Bucky said driving a car really fast shouldn't be considered a sport.

Quinn sipped her wine and leaned back in her chair. Once again, the Stark-Rogers family launched into a loud and lively conversation. Maybe it was the wine, but Quinn felt something warm and cozy settle over her as she sat and listened. _This is what family is supposed to look like_. Bucky was also leaned back slightly and Quinn tried to smile at him when she caught his eye but he looked away with a frown. She wasn't sure what she had ever done to offend the man, but his blatant dislike irked her to no end.

"Quinn?" Steve's voice pulled Quinn out of her own mind.

"Sorry, zoned out for a minute. What were you saying?" Quinn shook her head and leaned forward.

"I just asked when you get your sling off." Steve gave Bucky a funny look then stood to start clearing dishes, but nodded to indicate he was still listening.

"Oh, I'm going to get it checked tomorrow, so hopefully then. It's been driving me nuts." Mentioning the thing brought it to the forefront of her mind and she started to itch where the strap met her shoulder.

"What happened to the guy who shot you?" Peter picked up the empty spaghetti dish and followed his dad into the kitchen. The open floor plan allowed conversation to continue to flow even as each person started to pitch in on cleanup. Quinn started to take her own plate to the kitchen but was stopped and shocked when Bucky took the plate from her and indicated she should stay seated.

"He's in jail for now. I suppose he'll have a trial soon I'll have to testify at." Quinn frowned, it wasn't something she was looking forward to.

"I bet when you became a doctor dodging bullets was the last thing on your mind." Steve quickly wiped down the table with a damp rag.

"Yes, but it really wasn't too bad." Quinn walked her wine glass to the sink and rinsed it out.

"You've had worse?" Bucky gruffly asked from where he sat with another glass of wine at the kitchen island. To Quinn, the comment sounded condescending.

"Actually yes." Quinn rounded on him. "I did work with Doctors Without Borders in Rwanda and we had to evacuate the field hospital while being fired on by insurgents." She had hoped to maybe impress him with the story, or at least get him to stop looking at her in that weird way, but retelling the experience made her shiver. The sound of screaming and guns firing filled her head and she had to grasp the countertop to try and bring herself back to the present.

"You worked in Africa?" Bucky's voice was softer and Quinn opened her eyes back up. He was looking at her differently now, less condescending and more sympathetic. His blue eyes caught her and she found it difficult to look away.

"Just for a short time. You been there?" Quinn responded quietly.

"All over, but Wakanda mainly." Bucky sipped his wine and continued to stare at her.

"I haven't told Shuri about all this!" Peter suddenly exclaimed and rapidly pulled out a cell phone to start texting.

"Is Shuri your girlfriend?" Quinn asked.

"No, she's the princess of Wakanda." Peter rapidly typed in his phone.

"Oh," Quinn smirked at her own ignorance. "That was my second guess." Her own phone vibrated with a text message.

 _Where are you? Missed laundry night!_ It came from Royal and Quinn smacked her forehead. She didn't realize how late it was. Every Monday she and Royal walked to the laundry mat together.

"Sorry. I didn't realize how late it was. I really need to get going." Quinn grabbed her med kit and purse and started for the elevator that would take her down to the main floor.

A chorus of 'byes' and 'thanks for comings' rang out as she left. On the train ride back to Queens Quinn found herself thinking warmly about the whole night, visiting with Steve and Tony and watching their family together. She realized with a jolt of surprise that she wished she had that. Royal and Andi were the closest thing to family she had, and she loved them, but now she had a sense of discontentment at not having a real family of her own.

* * *

"She's the shit, right?" Peter elbowed Bucky in the lounge at Avengers Tower. Supper ran so late they all decided to stay the night there. Tony and Steve had long since retired to bed but Bucky and Peter were up watching a documentary on the technology of Star Trek. Peter had been on his phone with Shuri all night, the princess already had about fifty ideas for a new suit.

"Language, kid. I don't want Steve saying you're picking up my bad habits."

"Have you met my Dad? Pops doesn't think any of my bad habits come from you."

Bucky laughed at Peter's assessment of Tony and tried to focus back on the documentary. William Shatner was asking a scientist if 'beam me up Scotty' could ever become a reality.

"You didn't answer my question." Peter said seriously. "What do you think of the doctor?"

"She's a spoiled rich kid." Bucky huffed, his face not betraying any emotions.

" _I'm_ a spoiled rich kid, but you still like me."

"I'm going out for a ride." Bucky stood and took his motorcycle keys from his jeans pocket. "Get to bed before your dads realize you're still up."

Peter smiled at Bucky's retreating form. He only went for rides in the middle of the night when something was on his mind, and Peter was sure he knew exactly what it was.

Bucky took off on his Harley Sport Glide. The bike had been a gift from Tony and Steve. At the time, it felt too expensive, too flashy, but when Steve explained Tony had completely rebuilt it from skeleton parts it became more of a peace offering that Bucky gladly accepted. His relationship with his best friend's husband would never be described as close, but they were slowly healing and forgiving each other, and Bucky would always be grateful to Tony for taking care of Steve when he first came out of the ice.

Bucky kicked the bike up in speed and rocketed down the street. New York might be the city that never sleeps but Bucky knew it well enough to find the streets that would be almost abandoned at two o'clock in the morning. He needed to get away soon, the crowds of people were starting to get stifling. In the years since he shed the Winter Soldier mantel he learned that he would nearly go insane if he didn't retreat to solitude every once in a while. Sometimes it was as simple as a weekend in the woods upstate, other times it was spending a few months on the little farm in Wakanda.

Right now, he wasn't sure what he wanted. He felt like he was crawling out of his skin with the need to see Quinn again. Listening to her talk at supper just showed how different they were. How they had almost nothing in common and yet he wanted to know more. He wanted to know what happened to her in Rwanda and who her favorite nanny was. It was driving him insane, but he couldn't get the way she nervously tucked her strawberry blonde hair behind her when Peter asked about her family out of his head. He couldn't stop thinking about how her nose crinkled when she laughed or that she had a freckle in the outer corner of her right eye lid. Of course that just made him think of her pale green eyes with the dark circles around the irises. He also thought of the way her body moved, so cautious and guarded like she was expecting an attack until she had a few glasses of wine.

Bucky growled at himself and tried to focus on the road and the roar of his pipes. The last thing he needed to start thinking about was her body. He realized he had ridden all the way to Queens only half consciously. He reasoned that it was rude of them to let her go home so late by herself, he was just making sure she made it alright. Steve's mom would be rolling in her grave if she knew her boys had let a girl go home without an escort. The brownstone Quinn lived in wasn't far from the Royal Savage bar, he knew her address from the file Tony had on her. There was still a light on in the window of her apartment despite the late hour. A single black car was parked on the side street across from the building and it set off alarms in Bucky's head. He ascended the steps to the third floor and knocked on the door.

"What the hell?" Quinn opened the door and Bucky groaned inwardly at her yoga pants and tank top. Ever since Nat, he avoided women like the plague. He may have been a playboy in the '40s, when an army uniform guaranteed a quick lay, but this new version of him had seen too much and it felt wrong to bring a woman into his life. He liked his life with Steve's family, being an uncle was enough, it had to be. He wasn't exactly a monk either though.

"There's someone watching your apartment." Bucky gently shoved himself past her and over to the window. The car and its occupant were still there.

"Black car, Benz maybe?" Quinn joined him at the window and he bristled at the feel of her closeness.

"You've noticed it?"

"I've had a car like that following me since I graduated high school." Quinn hugged her arms tightly to herself and back away from the window. "It's my Dad, one of his goons keeping tabs on me."

Bucky studied her. The way she spoke sounded light, like it was the most normal thing in the world. But her face and body told the truth; she was terrified. The need to protect her was overwhelming. "Want me to take care of it?"

Quinn seemed to consider his proposition, but shook her head. "It'll only make it worse. My father is one of the most powerful men in the country, if he wants me followed, I get followed."

"Why don't you fight it?" Bucky's heart hammered in frustration and anger. "How can you stand to let someone control you like that."

"My life is none of your business." Quinn spoke with an edge to her voice that Bucky hadn't heard before.

"You shouldn't just accept things like that. Fight back!" Bucky heard his voice get louder and tried to rein in his temper.

"You really think I haven't tried?" Quinn's voice rose and octave and something shifted in her eyes. "Last time I took him on people wound up dead."

Bucky growled in frustration and headed towards the door. "Someday you're going to have to actually face him, you know."

"Bucky, why are you even here? It's the middle of the night, I'm tired, and I really don't enjoy being lectured." Quinn opened the door of her apartment and gestured for him to leave with emphatic eyes.

Bucky ground his teeth together, he didn't really have a good excuse for being in her apartment. "I just wanted to make sure you made it home safe." He paused in the doorway and studied her more. Her expression softened slightly at his confession, but she still wore a hard glare.

"Well you can see that I'm fine." Quinn jerked her chin outside the door, indicating he needed to leave.

A segment of hair fell across her eyes and Bucky couldn't stop himself from tucking it behind her ear. "Just," He said quietly, still cupping the side of her face. "Take care of yourself."

He took off down the hall and back to his bike before he could say or do anything else he might regret. As tempting as it was to drag the driver out of the front seat of the black car, he worried about making things worse for Quinn.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you so much for the follows and likes, please leave a review as well! The next two chapters are one chapter that I split in two because it was getting way too long.

* * *

Quinn experimentally rotated her shoulder once more. It was still stiff, but the feeling of being sling-free was wonderful. She had been given some physical therapy exercises to do on her own time, but was cleared to go back to work as soon as she was given a psychological exam as well; her superior was worried about her working in the same place she had been attacked. She was eager to get back to the hospital, having never taken a day off she was rapidly getting anxious. The past two days in a row she had been at Avengers Tower while Peter began training. The things his body was now capable of were unbelievable and the challenge of monitoring it all took up most of her days. Bucky was usually there as well, like a shadow on her peripheral she was never quite able to shake.

"You know you'd look pretty great in a dress now that that sling's off." Tony entered the small office space Quinn had claimed as her own.

"Excuse me?" She looked up in shock.

The engineer stuffed a handful of sunflower seeds in his mouth, he was a perpetual snacker. "Sorry, old habits and all that. What I mean is we have a gala tonight and you should come."

Images of debutante balls and charity events flashed through Quinn's mind. She could barely stomach the taffeta and tulle fueled affairs growing up. "I'll pass, thanks."

"It's for a good cause. Money is going to the new cancer wing at the Children't Hospital." Tony implored more.

Quinn shook her head. "That is a good cause, but galas are just not my thing. Besides, I need to rest up for starting back at the hospital next week."

"Want to see something cool?" Tony's shift of conversation gave Quinn a reason to pause. It wasn't like him to give up a fight like that so quickly. "Follow me."

Quinn followed Tony through the maze that was Avengers Tower. They came to a floor on the lower level that consisted of a balcony looking down to the floor below. Quinn could hear a series of grunts, shouts, and hits coming from below. Natasha and Agent Maria Hill, who Quinn just met that day, were looking on.

"I got ten on Barnes." Natasha nudged Tony playfully as he approached.

"I'll take that bet, Romanoff." Tony leaned over the railing. "My man's not in a generous mood today so he won't be pulling any punches."

"What about you, doc?" Natasha nodded to Quinn. "Barnes or Rogers?"

Quinn looked down and saw what they were talking about. Steve and Bucky were locked in the middle of an intense sparring session. Both were in sweatpants with their shirts off. Steve was currently using his shield to deflect a series of blows from Bucky.

"I'm at an unfair advantage. I don't know how to tell which one is stronger." Quinn looked on in wonder at the sheer power of the two men. "Who are you rooting for, Agent?"

Hill smiled and shook her head. "I'm not a betting woman, I just come for the show."

Quinn felt eyes on her and turned to see Natasha studying her as she watched the mock battle below. "What do you notice about them?" The red head tilted her head in the direction of Steve and Bucky.

As Quinn watched, Steve lowered his shield and reached out to grab Bucky's shoulder and twist him so their positions were reversed. He then used Bucky's moment of distraction to kick near his chest, but was thrown on his back by Bucky's metal arm. "Bucky fights more defensively." Quinn said slowly, she had never so much as watched a boxing match, much less something like this. "He uses his prosthetic as a shield. Steve, on the other hand, is offensive. Ironically, he uses his shield more as a weapon."

As if on cue Steve sent his shield soaring towards Bucky. Quinn couldn't help the small shout of warning that escaped her throat when she saw the vibranium disc heading straight for his head. Unfortunately, the sound distracted Bucky and rather than duck like he normally would the shield hit its target and knocked him over.

"Bucky!" Steve shouted and ran over to his friend. Blood was starting to trickle from the wound on his temple. "I'm so sorry, I thought you could deflect that."

"Get off of me Rogers! Your frisbee just scratched me is all." Bucky shrugged off Steve and glared up at the balcony.

"Looks like I win." Tony grinned over to Nat and blew a kiss down to his husband.

"You brought her over here on purpose." Natasha grumbled and begrudgingly handed a bill to Tony.

"Next time you'll have to see Steve and Tony spar." Agent Hill nudged Quinn. "That's when it gets real fun."

Bucky looked sufficiently cowed at his defeat when he and Steve appeared on the balcony. A steady stream of blood was falling from the cut on his forehead.

"Good job, babe." Tony waved the bill in front of Steve. "You made Nat pay for our next ice cream outing."

Steve gave Tony an indulgent smile but turned to Quinn. "Would you mind looking at Bucky's head?"

Quinn saw a muscle in Bucky's jaw twitch at the prospect. For most people, a direct hit to the head with Captain America's shield would be a severe concussion at the very least. Bucky's enhanced body probably protected him from severe injury but the doctor in her wouldn't allow a head injury to go unchecked. She cautiously approached the ex-assassin like she was walking up to an injured animal.

"It doesn't look too deep." Quinn raised her hands to feel around the wound but Bucky instinctively pulled his head back at the last second. "It should be fine. Let me know if you get a bad headache, nauseous, or pass out."

Quinn quickly said her goodbyes and left the building. Royal was waiting outside her apartment door when she arrived and holding a long, rectangular package. "This showed up for you a couple of hours ago, I signed for it."

He followed her into her and Andi's apartment and took up his usual spot on the sofa. "You going to open that?"

Quinn pursed her lips at the package. There was no return address or indication of who had sent it. Years of dealing with her father made her suspicious of things like this. "What if it's anthrax, or a bomb or something?" She tried to sound like she was joking, but if her father had decided to get rid of her...

"Nah," Royal waved his hand dismissively. "Don't they have dogs or some shit to sniff that stuff out?"

She lifted the white box and gave it an experimental shake. Something shifted inside, but she was no closer to learning the box's contents. Royal snatched it away from her and popped open the lid. Yards of hunter green fabric tumbled out. Royal picked the item up and laid it out on the coffee table. Quinn frowned at the silky evening gown. "Maybe Andi ordered it in my name. We share an Amazon account."

"I don't think so." Royal handed her a notecard.

'Doc, we'll see you tonight. Car will pick you up at 7. -Stark'

"Are you sleeping with Tony Stark?" Royal looked incredulously from the card to Quinn.

Quinn smacked the side of his head. "Oh ya, he totally left his gorgeous super soldier husband for me." She rolled her eyes and picked up the dress. It was beautiful, and exactly the style she would have chosen, and in her size. There was no way she was going to wear it though, she was not going to go to that gala, not for all the pretty dresses in the world.

* * *

"Do you think she'll show up?" Peter excitedly asked Tony, distracting him from the robot he was currently working on.

"The old 'designer dress with a mysterious note' routine works every time." Tony threw his tool back in it's box. When Peter was excited about something no work would get done. "At least it used to work for me every time."

"Before you met Pops." Peter grinned.

"Before I met Pops." Tony smiled back and ran his hand through his hair. "Let me ask you something Pete. Why are you so committed to this scheme?"

Peter frowned as if deep in thought. "You and Pops have each other, Nat and Clint have each other. Bucky's all alone."

"You know that's not true. We're all a family, we have each other. Winter's just the awkward goth kid of the family." Tony crossed his arms, he knew there was more to his son's matchmaking than he was being told.

"He's spending more and more time away." Peter slowly let out. "One day, he's just not going to come back. And then everything Pops did..." The teenager shut his mouth quickly and looked up at Tony guiltily.

"If Bucky leaves it means Steve and I fought for nothing and Pops left us for no reason." Tony finished Peter's thought. He knew there was something deeper going on. They avoided Steve's leaving as a topic of conversation at all costs. If Steve heard Peter saying this it would break his heart.

"I watch people, Dad." Peter continued on, his voice sounded raw. "I know that Bucky is lonely, and he just looks different when Quinn is around. He would stick around for her."

"You know this isn't your job." Tony put his arm on Peter's shoulder. "Pops isn't going anywhere, even if Bucky were to leave. Neither of us are going anywhere, not again."

"But Pops isn't Pops when Bucky's gone."

"Ok, here's the deal." Tony tried to take charge of the situation. "I'll help you with this plan of yours, but you have to understand that Bucky's going to do what he wants. No matter what you think you see in people, you can't manipulate them to do what you want. Believe me, I've tried."

Petter nodded and took in everything Tony said to him before looking up with a wide smile. "Ok, but for now, Operation Get Bucky Laid is a go?"

"We're not calling it that." Tony took up his tools again and laughed inwardly at his son's joke.

"Operation Winter is Coming?" Peter playfully suggested.

"Dude, I don't want to hear my kid talking like that. What about Operation Make Bucky Less of a Grumpy Asshole?"

"That's too long." Peter continued to make inappropriate suggestions until it was time to get ready for the gala.


	7. Chapter 7

I just revised the ending of this story today, and can I tell you how excited I am about what's to come for Bucky, Quinn, and the rest of the crew?! I just love this story so much and I hope you enjoy it as well!

* * *

"I'm not going." Quinn sat down in the living room chair in a huff.

"The dress, hair, and makeup would say otherwise." Andi poked her playfully. The pair had spent an hour fixing Quinn up, and despite herself, Quinn had enjoyed it.

"Skip work and come with me." Quinn pleaded. Despite her expertly curled hair and the dangerously formfitting gown she was truly not ready to go by herself to the event.

Andi shook her head. "Nope. Even if I could afford a night out, I don't have anything to wear, I don't think pasties and stripper heals are exactly within the dress code."

Quinn rolled her eyes. She highly doubted that there was _nothing_ formal in Andi's substantial closet. She had also pleaded with Royal, but he insisted he needed to be at the bar. The prospect of going to a huge gala alone was making all of Quinn's anxieties flair up with a vengeance. The thought of it almost made her physically sick. Just to be safe, she packed some of her anxiety pills in the black, jewel encrusted clutch Andi loaned her for the night. Her phone rang and the person on the other end informed her that the car Mr. Stark sent was waiting outside her building.

"Alright." Quinn conceded. "I'm only going to stay for an hour, tops. I'll donate some money, have a drink, then make my escape."

"I wonder if Thor will be there." Andi dreamily wondered as she ushered Quinn out the door. "If you wind up hooking up with an Avenger I want all the details!"

A sleek white car was waiting outside, Quinn didn't recognize the make or model. She expected a chauffeur to be waiting to open her door but there was no one there. Across the street, the black car with deeply tinted windows watched her ominously and she started to feel self-conscious. Just when she had decided to turn around and go back to her apartment the door of the white car opened and a disembodied voice asked her to get in.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" Quinn recognized the computer program from her time spent at Avengers tower.

"Indeed Doctor Augustin." The pleasantly lilted voice responded. "Mr. Stark sent me to pick you up."

"Sent you?" Quinn was reeling with this news. "Do you mean this car doesn't have an actual driver?"

"According to all calculations you are ninety percent less likely to be in a collision being chauffeured by Mr. Stark's driverless technology."

Quinn buckled her seatbelt and leaned back in the luxurious leather seat. The car took off and after a while proved that it was better than a human driver. Seemingly miraculously the car weaved between traffic and honked its horn at other drivers as needed. Stark's driverless car was the perfect New York City driver. They finally stopped in front of a gilded age building swarming with ball gowns, suits, and reporters. There was even a red carpet for attendees to step out on.

"Can we go in a back entrance or something?" Quinn nervously eyed the throngs of people.

Instead of responding the car pulled up to the red carpet entrance and opened its doors. "Enjoy your evening. You can let the interface know when you are ready to return home."

Quinn stared out, not ready to move her feet. A hand suddenly appeared in her field of vision.

"Hey doc!" Peter's chipper voice instantly brought a smile to Quinn. He looked dapper in his tuxedo, but still very much a teenager in the way his hair remained tousled. "My Dads told me to wait for you in case you decided to make a run for it."

Quinn took his hand. "I've never been on a red carpet before."

"Dad loves the drama of it. He thinks the only way to do things is to do them big." Peter waved and smiled at reporters with an ease only years of practice could afford. Quinn was once again struck by how mature he was for his age, and remembered that he had grown up in the public eye.

"Hey Peter, isn't she a little old for you?" A young female reporter shouted over to them. Quinn read on her press badge that she was from one of those online magazines targeted at teenagers.

"This is Doctor Augustin. She saved my life, Kenzie. My Dads and I wanted to treat her to something special." Peter easily chatted with the reporter. Quinn studied him while he worked. She had always thought of him as slightly awkward and still coming into his own, but he was unnaturally smooth in this environment. She then noticed how he tightened his jaw muscles as he talked with the reporter about his appendicitis - leaving out a few key, arachnid related details - and realized he was acting. He was doing his best to exude Tony Stark's coolness - and was succeeding at it.

"Does that bother you?" She couldn't resist asking as Peter escorted her into the main ballroom where the gala was taking place. She couldn't count the number of similar events she had been forced to growing up, but this one blew them all out of the water. The walls boasted floor to ceiling silk ribbons where gymnasts dressed in sparkling costumes performed death defying stunts by wrapping themselves in the ribbon and seeming to fall nearly to the ground. There were modern sculptures on pedestals scattered throughout the room and waiters easily wound throughout the crowd offering an array of hors d'oeuvres and drinks.

"My Dads tried keeping me out of the spotlight for a while, especially Pops." Peter answered her question. "But when they saw that was pretty much impossible because of who they were they spent a lot of time teaching me what to do."

There was a small group of teenagers in one corner of the room. A curly haired girl wearing tulle shirt and a t-shirt featuring the famous portrait of Che Guevara called Peter over to them. He seemed to hesitate, torn between escorting Quinn and wanting to go to his friends.

"Go on." Quinn eased his worry. "She's really pretty." She added and saw Peter's cheeks flare up bright red before he headed over to the group. Left on her own Quinn started looking for who to give the check she had written out as a donation to. She also greedily eyed the bar across the room. A band started playing and a few people started dancing a slow waltz.

"I'm glad the dress fit." Quinn turned around to see Steve looking at her sheepishly while Bucky nursed a beer. The silky green gown was stunning and Quinn couldn't help but grin and run her hand over the form fitting bodice and do a little twirl to show off the flowy, slit skirt portion. Both men looked incredible in their black suits and Quinn briefly imagined them turning heads in their army uniforms of the 1940s.

"Don't tell me you were a part of this too." Quinn shook her head. "Is Tony always that insistent?"

"You have no idea." Steve smiled fondly. "Did Peter bring you in?"

"Your son was a perfect gentleman." Quinn assured Steve and couldn't help but notice the sly smirk that graced Bucky's face.

Tony walked up to them as they were talking. Well, as Steve and Quinn talked and Bucky glowered. "You missed my speech, Doc. It was a good one too, full of heart wrenching appeals to save the children."

"Sorry, I dithered for a little bit over your car. When is that going to hit the market?"

Tony looked positively triumphant. "Haven't decided. I'm waiting to see what Tesla's next move is so I can blow Elon out of the water just after his next big reveal."

The band struck up a familiar chord and the singer started to croon out "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke. The song seemed to have special significance to Steve and Tony as they almost immediately took to the dance floor, leaving Quinn and Bucky awkwardly together.

"You do look really good tonight." Bucky offered her the compliment and she took it as gracefully as possible, still remembering his fury when he was at her apartment.

"I'm going to see how good the bartender is." Quinn planned her route to the bar to get there fast and efficiently avoiding crowds of people. "You need a refill?"

"He's not as good as that kid at Royal Savage, but the expensive booze Tony sprung for makes up for it." Bucky offered her his right elbow with an ease that told Quinn it was more muscle memory than chivalry. She accepted it and let him lead them over to the bar in nearly the exact course she had mapped out for herself.

"All this top shelf stuff and you drink that?" She pointed at his now empty can of Budweiser while they waited to order.

"I won it in a bet." He smirked again. "What's your poison, doctor?"

"Gin and tonic, extra gin, with a twist of lime." Quinn rattled off her usual drink order not expecting Bucky to order for her and then order whiskey sour for himself.

"I know girls today don't like that." Bucky handed her her drink and turned to face the dance floor. "Old habits are hard to break though."

"Is this the sort of place you brought girls back then?" Quinn sipped her drink. The flavors of juniper and lime exploded in her mouth. This was definitely better than the stuff Royal purchased for his bar.

"Nah. Movie, then dancing and drinking in some smoke filled joint until Steve inevitably got into a fight and had to be dragged home." Bucky seemed lost in his memories for a moment and somehow looked older until he finally turned to Quinn. "Real dancing too. Not this sex with your clothes on everyone does now."

The band was now covering some song Quinn was sure she had heard on her Ella Fitzgerald Spotify list. She downed the last of her drink in one gulp. "Well then, show me." She stood in front of Bucky and held out her hand. Maybe it was the drink that emboldened her, or maybe she wanted to prove something to him, but the move surprised both of them.

"Are you sure you can keep up?" Bucky teased but pulled her on to the dance floor just the same and wrapped one arm around her waist while placing her hands on his shoulder and one in hand. The metal of his arm was cool against her lower back and Quinn could do nothing to suppress the goosebumps that travelled up her spine. "Real dancing takes a little more technique than what I saw the other night."

His gibe spurred Quinn on. "Just try not to break a hip, old man." She challenged and Bucky let out a small chuckle while starting them off at the same time. He was a great partner; leading her around the floor was a sense of ease and control most men just didn't have. Quinn forgot to be sarcastic and lost herself in the dance. She allowed him to twirl her out and back into his chest and hitched her breath when he drew her close. They circled the floor and wound up back at the bar where Bucky ordered two more drinks and then lead her up a set of stairs. Quinn was still buzzing from her first drink and the dance that she barely registered leaving the ballroom until they were standing outside on a small balcony over looking the city.

"Sorry," Bucky apologized. "The crowd was starting to get to me."

"I know the feeling." Quinn sipped on her drink and looked at the city lights all around her. Bucked started to smoke and they sat in silence for a long while.

"Why a doctor?" Bucky broke the silence.

"What?" Quinn looked up confused. She had been lost in her own thoughts.

"You were rich, probably could have done whatever you wanted and still been taken care of, so why become a doctor?"

"I wanted to help people." Quinn shot back the automated response she had honed after years of being asked the same question.

"Bullshit." Buck crossed his arms and leaned against the banister.

"Excuse me?"

"Bullshit." He repeated. "At least, partial bullshit. Why did _you_ become a doctor?" He raised and eyebrow at Quinn, daring her to give another canned answer.

"I -" Quinn started to say one thing then changed her mind. "My grandmother, my mom's mom was a doctor. She was a nurse in World War 2 when she met my grandpa. He wasn't able to work much after the war because he was disabled by shrapnel in his hip so Grams decided to work her way through medical school at a time when almost no women were becoming doctors. She supported the two of them and their kids and was so respected no one dared question it. I guess, I just wanted to be like her. Independent."

"Are you independent, Quinn?" Bucky had moved closer while she told her story.

"Not as much as I'd like to be." She admitted and looked down at the fancy Louboutin heels peeking out from the hem of her dress, one of the few things she had brought with her to New York from her old life. She felt a calloused finger lift her chin up and was startled to see Bucky staring intently at her face from just a few inches away.

"What's stopping you?" He asked quietly but fiercely.

Quinn thought of her father, of the black cars and goons he had sent after her. She thought of the horrible lab she had worked for him in, where she thought she was helping people but was really torturing them. She didn't have an answer, she was probably always going to be under the thumb of William Augustin.

Bucky moved his hand from her chin to the back of her neck and leaned down suddenly, forcing their lips together. It was as if a dam broke and soon they both were lost to the kiss. Quinn moved her hands under his suit jacket and felt the taught muscles of his back through his dress shirt as Bucky stroked his hands up and down her sides. They finally came up for air the reality of what had just happened slammed into Quinn.

"Fuck." She stated plainly. "How..."

Bucky's arms were still around her and he leaned his forehead into hers. "You can always blame it on the gin."

When he flashed her a boyish smile with kiss swollen lips Quinn launched herself at him again, desperately wanting to feel him against her even more. A slit in her evening gown allowed Bucky to hitch one of legs up around his hip while moving from her lips to kissing down her neck and back up again. Quinn wasn't sure what it was, but something about this just clicked, it felt natural to be out on that balcony furiously making out like two kids on prom night. But at the same time... Quinn was distracted when a memory of her red-faced father holding a gun broke through the barriers of her mind she had so carefully constructed.

She pushed against Bucky's chest with all of her strength. He immediately took his hands off of her but looked shocked. "What's wrong?"

"I have to go." Quinn made a dash for the door but Bucky grabbed her wrist.

"Quinn, what happened?" He urgently asked.

"I - I can't blame this on the gin." She looked at him pleadingly, knowing she couldn't wrestle her wrist from his grasp. He reluctantly let her go and she ran towards the entrance and out the building. Quinn didn't pay much attention to what pulled up when she hailed a cab, completely forgetting about the car she came in. She couldn't believe she had let herself slip like that, she could have gotten them both killed.

"This isn't the way to my apartment." Quinn looked out at the unfamiliar street around her. She maybe have been distracted but was sure she gave the cabbie her address.

"I'm not taking you home, Miss Augustin." The driver said ominously. She was definitely in a cab, Quinn looked closer at her surroundings, the driver even had his identity card displayed. "Your father wants to have a word with you."

* * *

Bucky readjusted his earpiece and aimed his scope at the doctor. At first, he followed her to apologize for coming on to her during the party but when her cab didn't take her to her apartment he set up shop in the next building over to see what she was up to. Quinn crossed her arms and glared at someone in the hotel suite out of Bucky's view. He still couldn't hear a thing and readjusted the soundpiece again. This little bit of Stark/Wakandan tech would allow him to hear as if he was in room with her; if it would actually work. After a few more adjustments he finally picked up a signal.

"I can't do this." Quinn's voice shook even as she sounded resolute.

"You will." Another voice, this time from an older man came through. The man stepped into Bucky's scope. He was large enough to block out Quinn from view. He handed something to her.

"Just the Captain." Quinn said weakly as the man stepped out of view. Quinn was looking down at a syringe sadly. "I can reverse engineer the serum from his blood."

"Don't disappoint me again." The man cupped Quinn's cheek lovingly.

"I won't, Father." Quinn pulled away and made for the door of the room.

Bucky had heard enough. He pulled the earpiece off and lowered his gun even as his blood began to boil. She had been working for William Augustin all along.


	8. Chapter 8

_"Dad?" Peter's voice came over the comm, even on a different planet Tony knew something was wrong; very very wrong. "Dad, I don't - I don't feel so good."_

 _"Pete!" Tony watched in horror as Strange, Quill, and the other dissolved into dust particles. "Peter, just hold on!"_

 _"I want you both home, Dad. Come home, tell Pops to come home I don't-" The line went dead and Tony knew Peter had dissolved as well. He was gone, his boy was gone. They failed. And Steve? Oh god, Steve..._

Tony woke with a start, his nightmares were further proof he had a heart because his was currently pounding so loud he was sure the neighbors could hear it. It was still dark out, Steve slept soundly next to him. Tony considered waking him up, it wouldn't be the first time one of them needed comforting in the middle of the night. When you did what they did and saw the things they saw...

Instead, Tony got out of bed as stealthily as possible. He kissed Steve's forehead, grateful for the millionth time that he was there. He then made his way down the hall to Peter's room and cracked open the door just enough to peer inside. The teen was sleeping deeply, not a single trace of worry on his young face.

Assured that his family was safe, he made his way down to the workshop. Tony vaguely wondered if Barnes was skulking around, they would usually run into each other on nights like these. The former assassin supposedly had a place of his own, but basically lived on their couch. Tony finally stopped seeing _the video_ every time he looked at Barnes after months of being around him. He swore he still didn't like the guy, but whatever, Winter kept Steve sane, and he was good to Peter.

Once in the workshop Tony picked up whatever random piece of robotics was closest, anything to keep his mind off of his nightmares. Steve had forced him to see a counselor a few months after returning from Wakanda, after he told him about how Thor had been _this close_ to stopping Thanos. After Natasha told Tony how Steve had tried to take on the Titan alone, with no more than his bare hands. After all of it, they both needed to see a shrink. But the nightmares never stopped, not for either of them. Neither man was even sure at what point they had returned to sleeping beside each other after half of the universe was taken from them. Steve spent his days with his survivor's guilt group and helped put out fires across the globe. Tony just...stopped. He stayed in his home, refused all public appearances, gave the company to Pepper. He tinkered in the workshop and tried not to think about how Peter had disappeared alone. He watched as Steve and Natasha lead what was left of the Avengers on mission after mission, each time they came back it seemed like another part of their souls had died. At some point, Tony found Steve laying next to him the morning after he was due in from a mission, he couldn't remember if it was the first time since before their war or not. Tony got up and made Steve breakfast - coffee and scrambled eggs. They sat next to each other silently and Steve had laid his head on Tony's shoulder.

"Tooony." Steve's low, exasperated voice brought Tony back to the present. He looked up from the machine he was working on, not even sure if he was inventing something new or fixing something old. Steve was shirtless, wearing only his pale blue night pants, his blonde hair still ruffled from sleep.

"Did I wake you up?" Tony continued to tinker with the machine in front of him, he needed something to do with his hands.

"You not being there woke me up." Steve stood shoulder to shoulder with Tony and looked down at his table of machines. "Would I even understand what you were talking about if I asked you to explain what all of this is?" He asked, gesturing to complicated pile.

"Well, it appears to run on some form of electricity." The ghost of a smile tugged on Tony's face as he harkened back to the first time the Avengers had assembled.

"Was it another nightmare?" Steve pushed some of the mechanics out of his way and sat on the table with his bare feet dangling off.

"Memories." Tony said softly. He didn't want to say anything, but the shrinks had all said not to repress things. "Back on Titan."

Steve looked down thoughtfully and bit his lower lip. "I know. I dream about it too, I should have been here in New York with him. I could have-"

"You couldn't have stopped anything." Tony cut Steve off and tossed a piece of equipment back on the table. "That's point, isn't it? For everything that you can do, everything T'Challa and Hulk, and Wanda, and all the rest of us can do, we couldn't stop what happened. That's what won't leave me alone. We were able to fix things this time, but what about next time? Who is the next big bad that's going to destroy us? Going to take Peter from us?"

"There won't _be_ a next time." Steve spoke quietly but insistently. "We have Danvers, Thor and the Guardians constantly monitoring the galaxy, we have Avengers spread out over the earth, we won't be caught by surprise. And-" Steve reached out and pulled Tony to him. " _We're_ together now. We can get through anything as long as we do it together, you have to start believing that."

"But we're dragging Peter into it." Tony pulled away and rested his hands on Steve's thighs. "There's no keeping him out of it now."

"And we'll deal with that together too." Steve planted a kiss on Tony's forehead. "Come back to bed, now?"

Tony shook his head and moved to turn back to his work table, "I'm not sleeping anymore tonight. You go ahead."

"You know I can't sleep without you." Instead of going back upstairs Steve hopped off the table and moved to one of the work benches where he laid down and closed his eyes. "I'll just stay here with you."

Tony smiled fondly at his Captain. It was just like when Steve had first been defrosted. Unsure of this strange new world and haunted by the events of World War Two he had spent hours in Tony's workshop, just quietly watching him work until he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Quinn rushed out of the hotel room as quickly as she could and barely made it to a back stairwell before breaking down. The concrete walls seemed to close in on her as she collapsed on the stairs, clutching her mid-section. Medically, she knew she was having a panic attack, but that knowledge didn't give her a lot of help at the moment. She tried to catch her breath but her chest hurt so much she couldn't take in a deep breath. She wanted to scream but when she opened her mouth all that came out was a strangled sob. William had caught up with her. Of course he had. Of course he knew all about her work with Tony, Steve, and Peter. Now, if she didn't betray them her Father would... She shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts. The image of her sister's body was too much to think about at the moment but just enough motivation to steel her resolve. She was about to walk out the service exit door when it burst open and she was greeted with one very angry Bucky.

Quinn opened her mouth in surprise. "What are you-"

Bucky cut her off by grabbing her harshly and putting one hand over her mouth. He dragged her out the door and not too gently shoved her into a black car. Quinn couldn't breath, it was as if there was a block of concrete on her chest. She registered that tears were starting to stream down her face and she began to feel a pounding behind her eyes.

"Stop-" She tried her best to sound firm. "Stop the car, Bucky."

When he pressed down further on the accelerator she became more desperate and could only take in gulping breaths. "Stop the car! Bucky, STOP!"

Quinn finally managed to yell and Bucky brought the vehicle to a screeching halt down a side street. Quinn reached for her small clutch she had miraculously managed to hang on to, knowing that she needed one of the pills from the orange bottle inside. She grabbed for the bottle but was stopped by Bucky's metal arm. He took the pill bottle from her and read the inscription, then looked inside and plucked out one pill.

"Take it quickly." He thrust the small white tablet to her and watched intently as she swallowed it and rested her head on the dashboard.

They sat in total silence while Quinn felt the Lorazepam slowly abate her panic attack. When she could finally breathe again she leaned her head back against seat. The medicine for her attacks always left her with a light-headed, almost high feeling, just disconnected from the world around her.

"You good?" Bucky glared over at her and put the car in gear.

"Where are you taking me?" Quinn rasped out her question, suddenly starting to feel very sleepy from the night's events.

"Out of the city." Bucky gripped the steering wheel tightly and Quinn noticed the muscle in his jaw tensing up.

"Are you going to kill me?" Quinn rested her face against the cool window next to her. She abstractly knew she was in danger, but the medicine was keeping her from fully feeling the terror of the moment.

"I don't want to." Bucky stubbornly kept his eyes on the road and Quinn wondered what exactly was going on his head as she slowly drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

"Wake up, we're here." Quinn opened her eyes expecting to see streetlights or even the sunrise, instead, she was greeted by total darkness. Her body ached from the panic attack, but she found that she was able to breathe normally and her thoughts were not jumbled.

"Where is here?" She gingerly unfolded her legs from where they were curled underneath her and removed her seatbelt.

Bucky fished a flashlight from the glove box and handed it to Quinn. "Just go inside, key's under the rock by the front door. I'm going to get the power on."

Quinn wanted to argue with him, but something in his voice left no room for it. She gathered the material of the evening gown she was still wearing and did what he said. The beam from the flashlight revealed that they were at a small cabin. Within seconds a few lights flickered on to reveal Spartan-like accommodations. There was a well worn leather couch, a wooden coffee table, and a fireplace with a stone hearth. The living area opened up to a basic eat in kitchen. A few fishing poles and tackle were laying next to a screen door to the left of the kitchen. Venturing beyond the kitchen Quinn found two bedrooms and one and a half baths, each room filled with just enough stuff to make it livable. Given a little TLC, the cabin could have been quite charming.

Quinn jumped when she heard Bucky clear his throat and walk into the bedroom she was currently standing in. "Here" He placed a neatly folded pile of clothes on the bed. "I'll be in the living room."

He left and Quinn inspected the pile. A pair of black sweatpants and a gray v-neck t-shirt. They would both be huge on her, but she welcomed the opportunity to get out of the heels and dress, it seemed like she had changed for the gala days ago. She took her time sliding off the dress and unpinning her hair. The whole time wondering what Bucky was playing at. He had clearly overhead her encounter with her Father. Was he going to kill her? Torture her for information? Did people give sweatpants to people they were planning on killing? Although she quickly pushed them away, thoughts of files she had read on the Winter Soldier drifted through her mind. He had been a merciless killer, but that wasn't Bucky anymore. She thought about the sparring session she had witnessed between Bucky and Steve, even if she wanted to, there was no way she could run from him.

She hung the dress up in a closet that was empty except for a single box and put on the clothes, breathing a sigh of relief at the comfort. Her hair was sticking out at odd angles thanks to the hairspray and pins, but there was not a brush in sight. After a few deep breaths she walked back to the living area.

Bucky was seated on the couch with a completely disassembled rifle in front of him on the coffee table. "I'm not going to hurt you." Bucky must have heard her approaching despite her best efforts to be quiet. He turned back to the rifle and made short order of putting it all back together. He stood up and slung the weapon on his back with practiced ease.

"I don't want to hurt you, or kill you. But I think you're messing with my family and I need to know _exactly_ what your plan is."

"I'm not-" Quinn faltered when she tried to protest. She wanted to explain how none of this was her fault, she wanted to claim that William was forcing her hand. But, she reasoned, everyone has a choice. It didn't matter why she made the choice she did, it was still hers to own up to. "My father wants me to reverse engineer a super soldier serum from the Captain's blood. If I don't do what he says, he'll kill me."

Bucky groaned in frustration and started pacing the living room. "Why wouldn't you come to us for help? Why would you just agree to that? What does he have on you?"

Quinn froze. She didn't want to tell Bucky any of this. She didn't want to discuss her ugly past. She kept parts of her life hidden for a reason, if she opened up the mental box she kept them in she would be paralyzed with fear.

"Quinn!" Bucky stopped directly in front of her and nearly put his hands on her shoulders until she flinched away. "What aren't you telling me?"

Quinn sat on one of the barstools in the kitchen and put her head on the countertop before taking a deep breath and launching into her story.

"My older sister, Elizabeth - Lizzy, stood up to him. She was always standing up to him." Quinn smiled to herself remembering Lizzy's fiery red hair and loud personality. "Then he killed her. We worked in the lab together. I was fresh out of medical school, but hadn't done a residency yet. Lizzy was a researcher. We were told that all the patients had rare forms of terminal cancer and signed up for the experiments. That were helping cure them. Lizzy found out the truth. Our research was being used to torture these people, trying to create a formula that could be sold to militaries to create enhanced soldiers. One night, Lizzy tried to break out some of the experiments, some of the ones being tortured. I tried to help. William found us, he shot her in the head. He din't even try to stop her, just shot her. One of his security guards went after me with a knife, I barely survived."

Quinn wiped away the tears she hadn't realized were falling. "When I got out of the hospital I told him I wouldn't work for him again. I was able to complete my residency through Doctors Without Borders, and I try to just stay away from him. But my Mom, he has her, like, brainwashed or something. She doesn't know anything is wrong. If I don't do what he says, I know he'll kill me, but I don't know what he will do to her."

"So you were going to do it then?" Bucky leaned against the back of the couch and crossed his arms. "You were going to somehow take Steve's blood?"

"I'm not _proud_ of who I am. But you don't know what he's capable of. If I don't listen to him, nevermind what will happen to me. He has the resources to go after Steve, Tony, and Peter, and my friends. Bucky, I am terrified of the things he'll do."

There was a long stretch of silence. Quinn felt utterly exhausted despite her nap in the car. The sky outside was just barely starting to lighten up. Bucky pushed off of the couch and pulled the gun off his back, placing it on a rack above the screen door. He disappeared to the hallway and returned with a gray quilt.

"C'mere." He held out a hand to Quinn which she took reluctantly. Once she was close he wrapped the quilt around her shoulders and pulled her by her hand out the screen door. They exited onto a wooden deck that led to a small grassy yard and eventually a long dock with a few small boats and kayaks tied down to it. The sun had yet to crest, but the very first hint of dawn reflected on the placid water. Occasionally, a small wave lapped against the rocks. The air was chilly enough that Quinn could see her breath, but the quilt kept her plenty warm. Bucky sat down on a reclined patio chaise lounge and pulled Quinn down with him. He wrapped his arms around her so her back was flush with his chest.

"You don't have to do what he says." He said quietly. Quinn started to protest, but he continued speaking before she got the chance.

* * *

Bucky leaned all the way back in the chaise and brought Quinn with him. She drifted off to sleep almost immediately. Holding her like this wasn't the most comfortable, but he didn't want to move. What he wanted to do was lock her in the cabin and go put a bullet between William Augustin's eyes. But that's not what he did anymore. No, he needed to be smart about this. He would have to bring in Steve and Tony. Between the three of them, they would be able to bring Augustin down.

He looked out over the Long Island Sound, his cabin was in an isolated bay too far from amenities to attract tourists or summer renters. Only a few miles away the landscape was scattered with mansions and yacht clubs, but he could be totally alone here. It was one of his little escapes, a place to get away from the noise of the city and get his head clear when the nightmares became unbearable.

He wasn't quite sure what drove him to bring Quinn here. When he first heard her back at the hotel his anger had nearly boiled over. But then when she had her panic attack a voice that sounded like Steve told him to calm down, that there was more going on than he knew. Now he saw the truth. Quinn was being used just like he had once been used. William was manipulating her to get what he was going to put a stop to that. He never wanted to see the fear she had shown last night in her eyes again. It was pointless for him to deny his attraction to her any more, and he couldn't wait to see what she looked like finally free of all the things dragging her down.


End file.
